Blues stopper hails 'great result'

08 Apr 2009 22:00:00

Petr Cech hailed Chelsea's "great advantage" after they won 3-1 at Anfield in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Liverpool.Two goals from Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic and a third from Didier Drogba put the Blues in total control of the tie after Fernando Torres' early opener."I think this is a great result but it didn't start well for us and after a few minutes we were 1-0 down, which was the last thing we wanted, but we had a great reaction," he told Sky Sports."Branislav scored important goals from set-plays - the second arrived at the best possible time."The third one, they gambled and we had space on the counter-attack. I think this is a great advantage for the home leg."Ivanovic added: "These are my first goals (for Chelsea) and I am very happy. We played like a team and this is great for us."Cech warned his jubilant team-mates that there was still all to play for at Stamford Bridge in next week's second leg."We are still at half-time and you know 3-1 is great result at half-time, but we have to play the second half," he said."But now we are the favourites to go through because we have the advantage. It will be very hard for them to score three goals."Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink reiterated his pre-match assertion that an attacking mindset was the best way to approach the game.Of his tactics, the Dutchman said: "Not just leaning on defence to neutralise Torres and Steven Gerrard, but also to get them sweating in defence."When you have an away game in the Champions League it's a tremendous blow for the home team (when you score)."We aimed to score and when you can score three, that's a luxury."Of next week's return match in London, Hiddink added: "We have to be very concentrated."It's half-time. If we think we can play a relaxed game, that's not what might happen because Liverpool have shown in the past they can do unthinkable things, and we have to avoid that."Reds boss Rafael Benitez acknowledged it will be "very difficult" for his team to overturn the deficit at Stamford Bridge.He told Sky Sports: "Clearly it will be very difficult - but anything can happen."We have to play well and score three goals and have a very good game against a very good team."The Spaniard continued: "I felt we started really well but after the goal we didn't pass the ball properly. We were giving the ball away, and they were passing it well."Branislav Ivanovic scored Chelsea's first two goals from corners, and Benitez added: "We made a mistake because they are strong in the air - and we paid for it."However, the Liverpool manager hopes his title-chasing team can put the result behind them and produce a winning performance in this weekend's Barclays Premier League match against Blackburn.He added: "We have an important game on Saturday. The Premier League is another competition, and we will have to be ready."